QUA NTUM F I R E B A L L S T
1.6 / 2.1 /3.2
High-Capacity, High-Performance
Disk Drives for the Desktop
The Market
When first introduced, the Quantum
Fireball™ Series blazed a reputation as
the performance leader in PC disk drives.
Now the legacy continues. Today the
Quantum Fireball ST drives push the
envelope further with even higher levels
of performance. With technologies ad-
vancing on all fronts, including faster
microprocessors, advanced operating
systems, real-time video, multimedia,
and the Internet, the Quantum Fireball ST
Series will remain the drives of choice
for power users, corporate business users,
and users of entry-level PC workstations
and servers.
Performance Breakthrough—
33 Megabytes-Per-Second ATA
Transfer Rates
The Quantum Fireball ST drives are the
first drives to use the Quantum-pioneered
Ultra ATA interface, which effectively
doubles burst data transfer rates from
16.6 megabytes per second to 33 mega-
bytes per second. The Ultra ATA interface
not only delivers the higher performance
demanded by newly emerging applica-
tions, it also makes ATA competitive with
Ultra SCSI performance. With support
from major chipset vendors and other
hard disk drive manufacturers, the Ultra
ATA interface is destined to be the new
industry standard.
At the same time, for SCSI-based
systems, the Quantum Fireball ST Series
is also available with the Ultra SCSI-3
interface, which supports burst data
transfer rates of up to 20 megabytes per
second. Either way, ATA or SCSI, you get
the industry’s performance leader with
Quantum Fireball ST drives.
The Industry’s Most Advanced Design
We tuned every aspect of the Quantum
Fireball ST drive series for performance.
We gave it the industry’s largest capacity
per platter in a 3.5-inch form factor—
1.6 gigabytes. We used MR (magneto-
resistive) heads and an EPRML (Enhanced
Partial Response Maximum Likelihood)
read channel to easily support the in-
creased disk capacity. We accelerated
data transfer by reducing average seek
times to less than 10 milliseconds, setting
the rotational speed to 5,400 RPM, and
pushing internal data rates up to 132
megabits per second. The net result is
performance that meets or exceeds the
requirements of the most demanding
applications.
Quantum’s Industry-Leading Quality
and Reliability
Performance is nothing without reliability.
That’s why we engineered the Quantum
Fireball ST Series to the highest quality
standards. It features an advanced Reed
Solomon implementation that detects
and corrects double-burst errors on-the-
fly and handles triple-burst errors. The
Quantum Fireball ST drives also support
the S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis,
and Reporting Technology) Revision 2
industry-standard data protection firm-
ware. With host computer S.M.A.R.T.
support, this feature provides critical disk
drive status and overall health informa-
tion that lets users avoid catastrophic
data loss. When you have systems
equipped with Quantum Fireball ST
drives, your customers stay sold on you—
and on Quantum.
AT AT/S AT/S
4.3 /6.4
AT/S AT/S
Key Features and Benefits
• Leading desktop capacities—
up to 6.4 gigabytes in a
3.5-inch form factor
• Industry’s highest burst data
transfer rates—new Quantum-
patented Ultra ATA support
and Ultra SCSI-3 interface
• Fastest data reading
possible—advanced MR heads
and EPRML read channel
technology
• Faster response—less than
10 ms average seek time
and a rotational speed of
5,400 RPM
• Outstanding accuracy—
advanced embedded servo
positioning system, 224-bit
Reed Solomon double-burst
ECC on-the-fly, multiple
AutoRead™/multiple
AutoWrite™ firmware, and
AutoTransfer ™ support
• Enhanced performance—
adaptive segmented buffer,
DisCache®, WriteCache®, and
tagged command queuing
(SCSI)
• Ease of installation—AT-Bus
Cable Select™ and Plug-and-
Play SCSI, jumper selectable
active termination (SCSI)
• Dependability—400,000-hour
MTBF, S.M.A.R.T. Revision 2
support
 SPECIF IC ATIONS

Quantum Fireball ST 1.6 2.1 3.2 4.3 6.4

Form Factor 3.5 inch (low profile) 3.5 inch (low profile) 3.5 inch (low profile) 3.5 inch (low profile) 3.5 inch (low profile)
Interfaces Ultra ATA Ultra ATA Ultra ATA Ultra ATA Ultra ATA
Ultra SCSI-3 Ultra SCSI-3 Ultra SCSI-3 Ultra SCSI-3
Formatted Capacity (MB1) 1,614 2,151 3,228 4,310 6,448

Disk Drive Configuration

Recording Surfaces 2 3 4 6 8
AT Logical
Cylinders 3,128 4,092 6,256 14,848 13,328
Heads 16 16 16 9 15
Sectors 63 63 63 63 63

Performance Specifications Environmental Limits

Typical Seek Times2 (ms) Operating
Average <10 Temperature (°C) 5 to 55
Track-to-Track 2 Non-Condensing Humidity (%) 5 to 85
Full Stroke 20 Shock (G, 11 ms) 10
Average Rotational Latency (ms) 5.56 Vibration (G, 5 to 400 Hz, peak-to-peak) 1
Rotational Speed (RPM) 5,400 Altitude (ft.) -650 to 10,000
Internal Data Rate (Mb/sec) Up to 132 Non-Operating
Data Transfer Rates (Buffer-to-Host) Temperature (°C) -40 to 65
ATA (MB/sec) Non-Condensing Humidity (%) 5 to 95
PIO Mode 4 16.6 Shock (G, 11 ms) 70
DMA Mode 2 16.6 Vibration (G, 5 to 500 Hz, peak-to-peak) 2
Ultra DMA/33 33.3 Altitude (ft.) -650 to 40,000
Ultra SCSI-3 (MB/sec) 20 Idle Sound (typ)
Buffer Size (KB) 128 (Quantum Fireball ST 6.4)
Typical Power On to Drive Ready (sec) 15 Pressure (dBA) 32
Power (bels) 3.8
Reliability Specifications
Projected Field MTBF (hrs) 400,000 Power Specifications
Start/Stop Cycles (ambient) 40,000 Nominal Voltage (V) +5/+12
Nonrecoverable Data Errors (per bits read) <10 per 1015 Voltage Margin (%) ±5/±10
Warranty 3 (years) 3 Typical Power Draw (W)
(Quantum Fireball ST 6.4)
Physical Specifications Standby/Sleep 1.0
Dimensions—inches (mm) Idle 6.0
Width 4.00 (101.6) Operating4 11.0
Length 5.75 (146.1) Peak Current (mA on +5/+12 V) 700/1,700
Height 1.00 (25.4)
Weight—pounds (kg) <1.2 (<0.55)
1
Quantum defines a megabyte (MB) as 106 or 1,000,000 bytes.
2
Seek times are at nominal conditions and include settling.
3
This warranty is standard when products are purchased directly through authorized Quantum distributors/dealers. Unless otherwise agreed, a one-year warranty is
provided to all OEMs purchasing directly from Quantum. End-user warranties provided by computer manufacturers may vary.
4
Operating is defined as 40% seeking, 30% reading, 10% writing, and 20% idle.

For More Information

For more information about Quantum's quality products, call
toll-free: 1-800-624-5545 in the U.S.A. and Canada, or visit our
World Wide Web site: http://www.quantum.com

Quantum Corporation Quantum Asia-Pacific Pte. Ltd.

500 McCarthy Boulevard 9 Temasek Boulevard
Milpitas, California 95035 U.S.A. #24-00/Suntec City Tower 2
1-800-624-5545 Singapore 038989
http://www.quantum.com 65-334-0880

Quantum Peripheral Products S.A. Quantum Peripherals Japan

ICC Building D Shinjuku Square Tower 4F
20 Route de Pre-Bois 6-22-1 Nishi-Shinjuku
1215 Geneva, Switzerland Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 163-11 Japan
41-22-929-7600 81-3-5321-7900

Specifications subject to change without notice.

©1997 Quantum Corporation. Quantum, the Quantum logo, DisCache, and WriteCache are
trademarks of Quantum Corporation, registered in the U.S.A. and other countries. Capacity
for the Extraordinary, Fireball, AT-Bus Cable Select, AutoRead, AutoTransfer, and AutoWrite
are trademarks of Quantum Corporation. Products mentioned herein are for identification
purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Printed in the U.S.A. 50k DF/CRFTSMN fstds497